Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov: Bensalah, Putin Had Normal Discussion

The conversation between Algeria acting President Abdelkader Bensalah and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the Russia-Africa summit, was normale dialogue that is practiced during bilateral talks and during which Bensalah said the situation in Algeria was under control, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Russia Sputnik news agency quoted the Russian official as saying: “It is difficult to talk about any reports, this is a completely normal conversation between the interlocutors during the bilateral meetings, everyone knows that preparations are underway for the upcoming elections in Algeria. There are many candidates, of course, any head of state who permanently heads the state or on a temporary basis assures his interlocutors that everything in his country is completely natural and under control in the legal sphere”.

Peskov was implicitly responding to the repercussions of Bensaleh meeting with his Russian counterpart, a meeting that drew widespread criticism from some activists on social networks, saying: “This is a perfectly normal conversation between the interlocutors during the bilateral meetings”.

While some criticized the content of the meeting between Putin and Bensalah, one commented on Facebook by saying: “The more the great powers supported Algeria, the more France suffers.”